Aloe vera mediated green synthesis and characterization of bismuth-copper-boron nanocomposite for radiation shielding application

A novel material bismuth-copper-boron nanocomposite has been synthesized in the present study using the solution combustion technique. The microstructure of the compound has been studied using SEM, XRD and FTIR techniques which are used to explore the physical and chemical structure of the novel material. The optical properties are studied using a UV-visible analysis. The radiation shielding efficiency has been investigated in detail theoretically and experimentally. Several gamma shielding parameters, neutron and bremsstrahlung shielding parameters have been estimated for the novel material in the present study. The linear and mass attenuation coefficient decreases with an increase in energy whereas the tenth value layer thickness increases with an increase in energy. The radiation protection efficiency is found to be high in the lower energy range when compared to the higher energy range. Crystalline size is determined by PXRD studies which proves the crystalline nature of the novel material. The chemical structure and functional groups are determined by the FTIR analysis and energy gap is found out to be 2.87 eV from UV visible studies. The studied sample has shown good gamma shielding ability in the lower energy range. EDX spectrum confirms the presence of bismuth, boron and copper nanocomposites. In addition, the said material is found to possess good absorption ability for neutrons and bremsstrahlung radiations.

Automated summary

A novel material, bismuth-copper-boron nanocomposite, was synthesized in this study using the solution combustion technique. The microstructure, physical and chemical structure, optical properties, and radiation shielding efficiency of the material were investigated using various techniques such as SEM, XRD, FTIR, and UV-visible analysis. The results show that the material has good gamma shielding ability, as well as absorption ability for neutrons and bremsstrahlung radiations.